Rafael Nadal was forced to sit out of the London Olympics and the U.S. Open after suffering a knee injury, but the superstar will return by the end of this year, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Nadal will play in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in December of this year and is planning to play in the Australian Open early next year.
According to the Associated Press, organizers of the tournament released a statement saying that Nadal will join stars such as Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the tournament.
Nadal has been out of action since the summer after suffering an early round exit at Wimbeldon. He played in the second round against Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic and lost 7-6 (9), 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6, which was the earliest exit from Wimbledon since 2005 for Nadal.
After discovering tendinitis in his knee, Nadal pulled out of the London Olympics, where he was supposed to be the flag bearer for Spain. He had planned to play in the U.S. Open, but also pulled out after feeling that his knee was not quite healed.
"I feel better after the meeting with my doctors and happy knowing that the evolution of the past weeks has been positive and surgery has been avoided," said Nadal at the time, according to the Associated Press.
Nadal also was forced to miss the Davis Cup semifinals in mid-September, which saw the defending champion Spanish team take on the United States. The team was still able to win and will take on the Czech Republic in November, but Nadal will still sit out to heal his knee.
He has suffered knee injuries in the past and this time he wants to make sure that it is fully healed before he tries to play again.
"I have to recover and I'll be back once the pain is gone," Nadal said according to a statement on a website linked to his Twitter feed. "I have missed the Olympics and the U.S. Open in the last few weeks, two of the most important tournaments of the year and that I really wanted to play. I really want to be back competing and enjoying the tennis tour, but I have many years in front of me and my knee needs some rest."
The 11-time Grand Slam champion will make his first appearance in December, but he has also made plans to play in the first major next year, the Australian Open.
According to a report from The Australian, tournament director Craig Tiley received a confirmation from Nadal that he will play. The article says that Tiley received a text image from Nadal stretching during a practice session and also said he plans on playing in the Slam.
"I showed a picture earlier that he is ready. It is a good reminder to us, him lying on a towel and doing his stretches that he wants to be here. He loves Australia," Tiley said. "If you know Rafa Nadal, he will be here. It always surprises what he gets up to. He did text last week and we had direct communication with him and he is planning to be back towards the end of the year and definitely play in the Australian Open."
According to ESPN, the tournament has also announced that the prize money will increase to a record $31.1 million.
Due to his injuries, Nadal is now currently ranked fourth in the world, his lowest ranking since 2010, according to SI.com. But Nadal has said previously that his focus is on getting healthy and winning majors and that his ranking is not the most important concern.
"At this point of my career (the ranking) is not the most important thing," Nadal, told Efe, according to ESPN.com. "Now the most important thing is to make a good recovery and right now my knee is not ready to compete in a Grand Slam; I'm going to try to recover as soon as possible to come back feeling strong, sure that I can compete and train the best that I know how.
Nadal is considered to be one of the best players in the world and the greatest clay court player of all time. He has won seven French Open titles, two Wimbleldon's and one U.S. and Australian Open title.
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